Specialist Orthopaedic Nurses: Frontline for Fracture Clinic Referrals

Emergency department (ED) and general practitioner (GP) referrals to orthopaedic fracture clinics are increasing. As a consequence, these clinics regularly operate at or beyond full capacity. In many institutions, all ED referrals are booked into and seen in the fracture clinic within 24 hours of presentation to the ED. A proportion of these appointments will prove unnecessary and, in other cases, review within several days of the injury will prove unnecessarily early. This precipitates lengthy delays, leading to inefficiency and patient dissatisfaction.